Thursday, 31 December 2015

The year is about to end. In a few hours it will be 2016. My new year resolution: I will stop to start a blog post with thundering clichés and obvious statements. And for the very last post of 2015, I thought I would write about Domino and share another picture of him. This is him enjoying his first Christmas present. Yes, we are silly like this, we spoiled him rotten at Christmas, with catnip toys mainly. It has been a while since we first met him. I didn't know he would end up here. I had always wanted a cat for Christmas, this one decided that it was going to be him. It took me a while to get used to Domino and in many ways I have still to get my head around the situation: he can be a bit of a biter. I know, he doesn't look like one on this picture. I mean not a biter of anything else than a toy. And he is quite needy, always asking for food, attention, us time, or simply the place on the sofa where you happen to be sitting on. We will need to check on his weight for the upcoming year, and try not to give in to emotional blackmail (Domino is a master of emotional blackmail). Anyway, it is a work in progress, but it's nice to have a cat around here. Since this black and white feline brightened up our year, it made sense that I finished this blogging year with a post about him.

Tuesday, 29 December 2015

This might be the last Christmas related post of the year. My father sent me many pictures of the Christmas tree via Dropbox, among them these two. I think this might actually be the thing I miss most about the the family's Christmas tree: the LGB model train at its base. It is by far the most loved and enduring Christmas present my brothers and I ever had.

This is more than an elaborate ornament: the train and what has been added through the years as part of its surroundings is a complete seasonal ecosystem. There used to be only the train and a few houses made of fabrics my father bought at a Christmas fair. Now there is a Playmobil station, a few extra houses, a water tank, a while menagerie made of sheep, lamas, one Scottish ox, dogs, three teddy bears and so on, also a whole staff of railway workers and now passengers. It is truly a game for all ages and I have no shame playing with it as if I was still a child, inventing adventures for the characters on display. Next time I will be home, I will ask my father if we can put the train on display for my godson and his sister. You know, so they can enjoy it too.

Monday, 28 December 2015

Have you seen it? Do you feel it like I do? Yes, it is already here: the post-Christmas blues. Today was the last day of the holiday and tomorrow I get back to work. I have been feeling low all day. Sure, officially we are still in the twelve days of Christmas and there is the new year coming. But let's face it: Christmas is done and dealt with and New Year is not really (for me at least) a great deal. So I am officially melancholic. I mean more than usual.

Saturday, 26 December 2015

We are the Boxing Day today... and also the Feast of Stephen, day made famous with this great Christmas carol. I love Good King Wenceslas, it is a story about compassion on a day that is now all about consumerism. I had to go and buy some bare necessities of life today, I did it as late as I could, I was happy to see that many shops were still closed for the day. Anyway, since it is still Christmastime and since it is a tradition on this blog, I am sharing the carol today. It was sung in York Minster. Not the greatest take on it, but I visited the place during my holidays in the city, so I thought it would be fitting enough.

Friday, 25 December 2015

I just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas, the Scandinavian way. For me, Christmas is truly Yuletide. So I accompany my wishes with a Christmas tree ornament from Sweden. One of my favourite ones (okay, I have many favourite ornaments) from the family Christmas tree. There is just something about that smiling wooden figure. I love it anyway. So Merry Christmas, Joyeux Noël, God Jul everyone!

Thursday, 24 December 2015

I was not expecting to blog about Dungeon & Dragons so early after my last post on the subject. But my youngest brother gave me an early Christmas present yesterday: he scanned our character sheets, the maps of the various kingdoms and lands we have made over the years and a number of other bits of data regarding the world we have created and he put everything into Dropbox. That might like nothing, but this is great: I am talking about almost 25 years of imagination on paper, now secure in electronic form and ready to be used. We won't have to wait until we are all in Chicoutimi in my parents' home for Christmas to play. I have to confess, I had suggested we did this before, I had asked for it for long, but feared I was being a pest (I probably was to be honest). All geeky pleasure aside, it is just a really lovely tribute to these decades. And I have decided to accompany this post with another image from D&Dr artist Daniel Horne. It's another one of my favourite, full of winter atmosphere. Yule is also, after all, a time of danger, even if it is imaginary one.

Wednesday, 23 December 2015

Well, I knew it was today, but this lovely and hilarious picture from David's Tea's Facebook page reminded me: it's Festivus. So Happy Festivus everyone! David's Tea asked their customers to give their grievances, which they did. I did not say anything, but many said that the company should not delete the bonus points every new year. I didn't know that and I am glad so many people brought it up. So yes, there was an Airing of Grievances and I had a Feat of Strength of sorts: tonight was Krav Maga training. It was the last class before Christmas, so it was pretty relax, but every session is a feat of strength so I can say I did my share tonight too for the holiday. And it is fitting: Festivus became famous because of the very Jewish sitcom Seinfeld, Krav Maga is a Jewish martial art... Oh, and I thought yesterday I was catching a nasty cold (I had felt weak and shivering all night and all day) so I was afraid that I'd be too sick for training. But I was absolutely fine. So yes, it's a Festivus Miracle! So mine was very happy, how was/is yours?

Tuesday, 22 December 2015

In the first year of Vraie Fiction, I once listedEyes Wide Shut as one my my favourite Christmas movies. I am a huge Stanley Kubrick fan and I consider his last film a very underrated gem, if not a masterpiece. Well, I was happily surprised recently to find an article in Rolling Stone arguing not only that it is a great movie, but that it is actually a great Christmas movie, deemed even a holiday classic. It may not be obvious to see, after all Christmas movies are often deemed more innocent than this modern tale of troubled couple and fantasized (or maybe true) adultery, but it always made sense to me. Kubrick's last movie belongs to a Yuletide tradition of dark stories (such as this one) with bizarre and or supernatural elements, when life and love are placed in danger and when one's perception of himself and the world he inhabits are radically altered. This is, in essence, what happens in the Nativity story. In Eyes Wide Shut, however, diabolical forces, not divine ones, are mainly at work, forces that are conceived in the characters' mind before taking shape. If you have seen the movie, read the article and rewatch it with new eyes. If you have not seen it yet, do it, put it on your list of movies to watch during the season. Enjoy a true Christmas classic.

Monday, 21 December 2015

There was Secret Santa at work last week. So it means I received something from an unknown colleague: this mug with the look and colours of a polar bear. And two white chocolate snowmen. I have to say, it could have gone far worse, given the humorous nature of Secret Santa at work. I always unwrap my present from Secret Santa with a certain fear. This was quite sweet. The person who bought me this seems to know me fairly well. He/she knows that I have a sweet tooth and seems to know my love for wildlife. Or maybe he/she just thought the mug looked cute. My wife loves white chocolate far more than me, so I will share one with her. She might even have both. For the polar bear mugs, although we have plenty of mugs already, I will happily add it to our collection. Because polar bears are so darn cute and I can be silly enough to enjoy drinking from such cup, just because it is made up to look like a bear.

Sunday, 20 December 2015

It does not look or feel like winter outside, as I have been moaning about. It has really got into me. But I try to find comfort in a few things. First, I have a real Christmas tree. This is always a plus to bring the spirit of Christmas home. And we have really nice ornaments. I have seen around far uglier Christmas trees than ours, because they are fake and because their ornaments are tacky. My wife and I are particularly fond of this sort, little doll girls that could easily be gnomes, wearing winter clothes, especially a woolly hat and pig tails. Some of them have ice skates. The brand is being sold in a local shop. We bought many of them, for us and for our families. It may not be winter outside, but these dolls bring winter on the Christmas tree.

As 'tis the season to be reading, I have a new read to suggest you. It is a recent discovery for me: I found it yesterday in A Literary Christmas. It is a poem/song by Thomas Haynes Bayly, music by Henry Bishop, based on the Legend of the Mistletoe Bough. I blogged yesterday about the dark side of Christmas. Well, Yuletide cannot get any darker than this. It is more a horror tale than anything else. You can read the poem/song here. I have also put a performance of the song below. In the story, there is no spirit, no ghost, no devil, not even an evil man, only tragic irony. And there is also the presence of the mistletoe bough, which, like in the old lore (see here), is an omen of tragedy.

Saturday, 19 December 2015

This year, I started on Facebook the tradition I had already started on this blog of sharing a book for the Christmas season (or for other seasons at other times of the year). It has been so far quite successful, so I thought I'd keep it alive on the blog as well. I know I already mentionedChristmas Curiosities, but I thought I would plug it again as it was four years ago. So this was a present from my brother PJ which is now among my early Yuletide reads. It is about the darker side of Christmas in its iconography: you have plenty of images of Krampus, creepy Santa Claus, Saint Nicholas who carries a rod to beat naughty children, dead birds (!) on season's greetings' cards, elves, devils, the Christm Child advertising cigars (!), winter spirits, etc. Because one should always remember Christmas' more sinister overtone, its part of darkness which makes us enjoy its lights all the more, I recommend that you read it.

Friday, 18 December 2015

This is a meme I found on Facebook, like I find many, many memes. I seldom publish them on my blog, because I try as much as possible to show original pictures. But this one is just so brilliant that I had to share it. Not only because of the great picture of Odin and his eight legged horse Sleipnir, with his two wolves (more about the symbols and attributes of Odin Allfather here), but because Christmas is truly Yuletide with a different name. And as you know from this blog, I keep as much as I can keep the Norse traditions in Christmas, so I encourage you to keep the Yule in Yuletide.

Thursday, 17 December 2015

I always feel a bit sad when I spend Christmas away from home. Especially a year like this when winter is not even remotely here. It is both devoid of snow and mild. The mildest December on record, apparently. That said, there are little things I do enjoy about spending Christmas in the UK, or at least little rituals and traditions we have which makes it special. One of them is reading the season's Radio Times.I only it's only a TV guide, but Christmas in England would not be the same without it. I actually find it more entertaining than many of the movies on schedule it reviews. So I was considering buying it yesterday, but my wife beat me to it. And when you have it, you know Christmastime can start. It must represent something in British psyche: my parents in law, among others, always buy one for Christmas.

Wednesday, 16 December 2015

Here is some updates about Domino and the Christmas tree. A cat-ch up, if you will (sorry for the pun). Since I last blogged about him, we have decorated the tree. Our feline friend was at first only mildly interested. He lay down beneath the tree, relaxing, then he spotted up his new toys. A few moments before I took this picture he was spinning that bauble you see as if it was a pinata. Sadly I could not take picture of it in time. He also hit the smaller bauble you can see on the top left corner. I was less worried about this one: it is made by a local artist as an unbreakable bauble, it bounces when you throw it down and basically, it's some kind of invincible bauble. Nevertheless, my wife preferred to be careful and she put the baubles out Domino's reach. He hasn't been misbehaving since then. Not towards the ornaments of the tree anyway (otherwise Domino misbehaves as much as he can). I almost feel sorry for him. Anyway, bouncing the baubles, he was absolutely adorable.

Tuesday, 15 December 2015

I have been desperate to see and feel snow these days. If not for Christmas, then on the days and weeks leading to Christmas. They have been promising us/warning us about a terrible winter coming. It hasn't come yet. And in Québec, it seemed that winter was not to be seen either, as no snow had fallen, even in this relatively late time in December. But apparently, in some places, it changed last night. At least according to my Facebook friends living in the Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean region, where I come from. I am torn between happiness for them, pride for my region, and complete and utter envy. So if you wonder where winter is, you have your answer: in Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean. This is where you need to be for a chance of a white Christmas. Sadly, I will not be there this year. At least I can still be proud of coming from the country where winter is.

Monday, 14 December 2015

This image might look like it has been taken from a George Martin novel, but it's from a Dragon Magazine. The image is by artist Daniel Horne, who fueled my my brothers' and my imagination (and still does) as he was one of the artists used in the best days of Dungeons & Dragons. I don't think any other artist, except maybe Larry Elmore, does dramatic snowy landscape as medieval fantasy settings like Daniel Horne. In this one, the quiet beauty of a plain on a cold winter day is disturbed by the outburst of evil, in the form of an animated giant skeleton, jumping out of the snow like a jack-in-the-box. The heroine seems vulnerable, but not entirely helpless. Our characters have been in similar situations and they have always come through.

All this to say that this year, I am going to miss the annual Christmas D&Dr games. In a way, it is the right time to skip it, as we ended the campaign last year. Still, I miss playing D&Dr from time to time, but especially around Christmastime, when the season just adds some free atmosphere. And now that our big campaign is over, we can actually spend more time building the atmosphere and enjoying the scenery, letting our imagination run wild. I could so easily imagine our characters walking through these snowy landscapes, building a fire, resting by fir trees... Oh well, it's going to be for next Christmas.

Sunday, 13 December 2015

As I mentioned in my French post yesterday , I bought the Christmas tree and put it up. I have not decorated it yet. I was anxious about Domino, as I have heard and read a few stories regarding cats and Christmas trees. I was afraid he might decide to claw it, climb on it, eat the branches, etc. Well, so far so good: after smelling it curiously, he seems comfortable with the tree and even had a few naps at its feet. We will see what happens when we put up the decorations later. I will keep an eye on this naughty cat. That said, as I had always wanted to share Christmas with Odin, I promise I will not be grumpy if Domino decides to munch something.

Saturday, 12 December 2015

This is an authentic mistletoe. I took the picture in Brittany when I went there back in April. I wouldn't have noticed it had it not been from my mother in law. As mistletoe is of course associated with Christmas, I wanted to publish the picture here for Christmastime. But you might not know why it is associated with it. There are a few reasons dating back from Pagan times, but this one is my favourite: mistletoe was used by the evil Norse God Loki to murder the god Balder, an event that was an omen for the Ragnarok. Another of the many reasons why I find Norse mythology so fitting for Christmastime. Anyway, so this small plant committed deicide. Ironic isn't it?

Friday, 11 December 2015

My younger and youngest brother found this article about The Life of an Introvert, described in seventeen graphics and he shared it on Facebook. And I find it brilliant although at the same time a little bit scary. Because it fits me like a glove. Then again it is a rather positive portrait of introverts. So I decided to share it here, as a bit of a surprisingly accurate psychological portrait. You might also recognize yourself in it. So know that you are not alone.

Thursday, 10 December 2015

I did not take this picture. It was taken and shared by someone on one of the aficionado websites of the town where I live. I often took pictures of the Christmas decorations of the main street at nighttime, but I never wake up early enough to take one when the day is dawning. It is absolutely beautiful, when shadows of the night are still lingering there, while both daylights and Christmas lights are giving the place a comforting feel. The only thing missing is the snow and you truly have a winter wonderland. But otherwise, it is a lovely Christmastime picture. And however I miss home, I do have to admit that I live in a beautiful English town.

Wednesday, 9 December 2015

I usually have Krav Maga training tonight, but once in a blue moon, we don't have a class this week. We will however have class for the rest of December, so I suspect that it's because it is Hanukkah at the moment. That said, I still keep in touch with my fellow warriors even when we do not have classes. And during one of our group chats, one of them pointed us to this BBC article, about the growing popularity of the Israeli martial art. Watching the video, seeing these ordinary people miles and miles away, in a far more troubled and dangerous country than where I live, learning the same form of self-defence I learn, it felt a bit surreal. And yet through the martial art, I felt a kinship with them.

Tuesday, 8 December 2015

This is a picture of the town's Christmas tree, taken from afar. They put it up and lit it at the end of November, which I think is a bit early, but at least it gave a Yuletide feel to this town. And since then, I have been wanting to have mine. This year, like in 2013 which was the last time I celebrated Christmas in England, I will buy a real one. But when is the question. I will be busy every weekend until Christmas and have little time to do it, so it needs to be done soon, but in the same time I don't want to put it up too early so it dries up before Christmas and ends up like the Christmas tree in A Charlie Brown Christmas. You know the one I mean. But I think I might try my luck this weekend, if I can find the time. With a lot of water and a lot of love, I think it will stay green for long enough. In the meantime, I will end this post with a piece of the album of A Charlie Brown Christmas. I am a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas carols and do not like modern takes (or indeed modern Christmas songs), but I love the simplicity of the arrangements of Vince Guaraldi. This is my favourite version of O Tannenbaum, maybe the only take of the song I genuinely love actually. I love how it goes from various moods, from melancholic to more upbeat. It's how I feel when I go and buy a tree and decorate it afterwards.

Monday, 7 December 2015

As Christmas is coming, I am giving you a few suggestions to fit Yuletide 'Tis the season to be reading and all that. I don't know if you have noticed, but it is one of the many traditions of Vraie Fiction. Today's suggestion is Earthly Powers by
Anthony Burgess. He is of course my favourite writer, as long-time followers of this bog know. Not that the novel set around Christmas exclusively or indeed all that much, in fact it covers
most of the XXth century, but there are some key elements related to the
season: it is at Christmastime that the homosexual narrator goes to
confession and ends up renouncing his Catholic faith, he makes his coming out to
his mother at the same time and one of the stories of the legend of
Saint Nicholas (where the saint resurrects three children that had been
murdered by a butcher) is used to illustrate the nature of free will and the problem of evil.
Deep stuff. Also it is maybe Burgess' greatest novel, so now's a good time as any to give
it a go. Or ask Santa to put it under your Christmas tree.

Sunday, 6 December 2015

I mentioned before that I have added at my Christmas reading list The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki. Norse mythology is simply perfect for Christmas, because a lot of the imagery and symbolism we have about the holiday truly originate from there. Christmas really is another name for Yule. Reading this saga is even more fitting as some of its stories are set during Yuletide, where supernatural encounters happen. I knew particularly of one story, which I read in Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology, where the hero Bodvar Bjarki fights a dragon on Yule night. So I am reading The Saga among other seasonal books, but I am nevertheless reading it too fast: I am already half way through it. All the same, it is such a pleasure to fully (re)discover characters I already know and love and see their whole story. And when I am finished with the original saga, I will still have the Yuletide adventure in Gods & Heroes to enjoy when Christmas is finally here, with the beautiful narrative of Brian Branston (you can read some of it here) and the gorgeous illustrations of Giovanni Caselli. 'Tis the season to be reading. And troll the ancient Yuletide stories. Oh yes, and they are also inspirations for our Dungeons & Dragons campaign, but this is another... story. Which I will probably blog about before long. For now, let's just say that The Saga of King Hrolf Kraki is the perfect Yuletide read.

Saturday, 5 December 2015

There is one thing I envy about cats in general and Domino in particular: their/his capacity to fall asleep pretty much everywhere he darn pleases. As a man suffering from insomnia, I am just amazed at his capacity of adaptation. Domino has slept in every corner of the house and in the garden. But he is particularly fond of the red blanket we placed on the sofa so he wouldn't scratch it. It's an old red blanket we bought to hide the holes and overall ugliness of old sofa that was falling apart. We received a new sofa in 2011 but kept the blanket for cold nights. But now it is Domino's blanket. A bit like Odin and the blanket I had bought in Liverpool. So Domino often takes over my set on the sofa and rolls in a ball or stretches right in the middle of the sofa and sleeps. A lot. How long can a cat take a nap? Anyway, it is not ideal to have him taking over the sofa, but he's so very cute when he does, so I don't mind too much and I can never find the heart to take him off the seat.

Friday, 4 December 2015

When Christmastime comes, we all have our favourite poisons. Mine is Roasted Nuts from Rebellion Beer. Sure, I enjoy mulled wine now and again, but I truly am a beer drinker and this is my beer for Christmas. I start drinking it as soon as it is available, in fact I drink it through the winter, as it or through what the English people call winter. But especially at Christmas. It is my poison of the season, available in many pubs around the South East. There was a stand from Rebellion Beer yesterday at the local outdoor Christmas market and they were serving some of their products for free, including a new seasonal ale, which was all right, but I truly went to the stand for the Roasted Nuts sample. And more, as they kept refilling my glass. Again and again. The guy serving me explained that it was pointless keeping the beers in the barrels and it was for us all to enjoy. I love the attitude of this microbrewery, their generosity very much in the spirit of Christmas.

Thursday, 3 December 2015

There was a Christmas market in the high street of our little town tonight, one of the seasonal events I absolutely love. There was the usual stuff: orchestras playing (including my wife's), choirs, food stands, decorations stands, etc. And there was a youngish Italian man who was passing leaflets about a new shop opening tonight, a shop of Italian delicacies. he was talking slowly with a very heavy Italian accent. So I took the leaflet, thanking him in Italian. Which of course lead to a conversation in Italian. When my wife had finished with the orchestra, we went to the shop, tasted some Italian jams and speak some more Italian for me. I said my usual line: "Io parlo bene italiano ma non capisco una sola parola". It was enough for the shopkeeper and his son (the guy who had passed leaflets) to wonder if I was Italian, but I could not maintain the illusion. They still kept on speaking Italian to me. As the son said as an explanation: "Your Italian is better than my English." I don't think I am that good, or he that bad, but this deserves to be a great unknown line. So this was my new Italian moment. Apparently, the shop is only here temporarily, for a month or so. I will pay them a few visits for a few more Italian moments.

Wednesday, 2 December 2015

Christmas is coming, which means, apart from the geese that are getting fat (or not anymore, who eats goose nowadays for Christmas?) is that we can enjoy seasonal food and drinks. I had this mulled wine and these two mince pies after a visit to one of the earliest Christmas markets, in a local hotel, about two weeks ago. Two very English delicacies. I have to confess, I am not the biggest fan of mince pies, but I do enjoy them wit mulled wine. I would enjoy mulled wine even more with the home made donuts we make in my family (now THAT'S truly a decadent match), but I have to compromise and enjoy local seasonal desserts. The mulled wine was nice, in any case, and the mince pies as good as they can be.

Tuesday, 1 December 2015

We are the first day of December, the first day of Advent, which means Christmas is finally coming. It was about time. So this blog will be all about Yuletide for pretty much all of December. So this is the town's Christmas tree. The main one I mean: by every building there is one. And it is a real one. It makes the place very festive. The only thing missing is the snow, which has not arrived yet and may not: whatever they have been forecasting about winter, I am still waiting for it. That said, at least the town does not have a tacky artificial Christmas tree. That would have been wrong on so many levels. No, this one is genuine. So will be the one I intend to buy soon, maybe this weekend. So watch this space for more.